


Here Comes The Sun

by punsareupmyallie



Category: The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29222328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punsareupmyallie/pseuds/punsareupmyallie
Summary: Achilles burns bright in front of him. The clouds paint shadows of color on his face. The crowds lap at his irresistible strength and beauty, and too soon he is gone once more. The words on Patroclus' lips that stemmed from his throat die then and there, lacking the sunlight they need.Patroclus is afraid he will be scorched. He lets the waves of disappointment wash him with numbness. He turns but does not see the yearning blue eyes.
Relationships: Achilles/Patroclus (Song of Achilles), Briseis & Patroclus (Song of Achilles)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Here Comes The Sun

Patroclus constantly dreamt of a wide field of grass, stretching for miles and kissing the clouds on the horizon. The air was always still, as if it was holding its breath, waiting for the world to collapse. The sky shone with blues and yellows intermixing and creating beautiful shapes. 

He was on his back in the soft grass, not unlike a soft bed. For hours he would stare at the colors in the sky until he drew a paintbrush from his jeans pocket and painted a face. Bright blue eyes and golden hair. Delicate eyelashes and a speckle of freckles.A sharp nose pointing to full lips. Patroclus bit his own lip, blood welling up and wetting up his paintbrush. Then, he would add rosy cheeks and rosier lips. Lips that only spoke beautiful things, hiding truths and sorrows. 

After he was done he stared at the painting. He appreciated the sharp structures, angular neck, lovely eyes so much that he would always reach a hand to stroke his cheek or move a golden lock. His temptations ruined the painting and smudged the lines. Blues hungrily lapped up the golden skin, and from this, an angry woman glared down at him. No longer with lips kissed by the gods but rather lips marred by a sacrificed goat’s blood. The wind picks up and tears grass, dirt, and tears from Patroclus’ eyes. Her shrieks are cracks of lightning.

His skin prickles over him and he wakes up in a heavy sweat, alone on his mattress, painted with fear and love. 

Around him, paintings of all different sizes of that golden boy stare back at him consolingly. All of them are slightly different, for he can never get the face right as he does in his dream. They are always distorted by that screaming woman. 

After he has calmed his erratic heart, he pushes the blue blankets from his tangled legs and pad softy on his wooden floor. The house was quiet, still. 

Opening the door, he peeks his head out, although he knew no one was in his house. His father was on a business trip in Europe; his mother living her life single and happily. He did not blame her. 

The long hallway stretched for miles, but eventually, he makes it to the bathroom and quickly washes away the presiding sweat. Shutting off the water, he watches the trickles of water drop from his dark curly hair, poking gently at his brown eyes and brown skin. He is not something they paint in the sky, but in the earth, hidden from inquisitive eyes. 

That is what he tells himself as he shrugs on a pair of dark jeans, his collared shirt, and an oversize hoodie. He shall attract no attention walking out the door, on his way to the bus stop, nor on the bus or his time in school. It will go as it has always had: listening to his teachers' droning voices, peeking at the chapters of his book, sneaking away to the library during lunch, and walking back home. The last time he rode the bus home, bruises littered his body and sounds of that golden boy’s laughter splashed around in his head. 

He shouldn’t think about that boy anymore.

In the beginning, his plan worked. Three years in high school has taught him the secrets of staying unnoticeable. Of course, he wasn’t invisible -- people waved from time to time, congratulated him on winning a biological contest, and teachers had witty conversations with him. And of course, his best friend Briseis was always by his side to make his life marginally better. He remembers their conversation yesterday, about promising to get married if they could find no one else. He swallowed anxiously thinking about the flicker in her eyes as he whispered a promise. She was beautiful, rich browns and clear eyes, but she wasn’t him. 

Said him was the reason his plan failed. The bus was usually quiet in the mornings, and Patroclus took this time to read his book or study his notes. But today, the bus rattled with screams and excitement. It was also more cramped than usual -- from the outside, it looked comically like a clown car. 

Patroclus wasn’t smiling. Hurriedly, he chased after the other students’ shoes climbing up the steep stairs, nearly tripping over at the curious yet disinterested stares that flew to see how else was coming on the bus. Most of the eyes went back down to look at their screens. About a thousand -- though only twenty -- pair of eyes continue to look at him as he squeezed through bodies, feet, and backpacks to his seat. He kept his head down, and this was his first fatal mistake. 

His second fatal mistake was not recognizing the shoes -- white blocky shoes from one of the more higher-end shoe companies. Shoes that only belonged to one person, for they were always neatly clean and pristine, even though they ran through every surface possible at the speed of light. He wouldn’t be surprised if there were scorch marks at the back. 

His third fatal mistake was stopping in the middle of the aisle. No one stood in the middle seat, the emergency exit seat, except him. The rowdier, more popular kids, sat in the back to yell provocative words and whisper gossips. The back was crammed, almost as crammed as where he was standing, music pumping through the air. The beat of the music thrummed in synch with his heartbeat. The white shoes stared expectantly at him. What was he going to do? 

Too late. The bus suddenly jolted, and a wave of kids screamed in delight at the sudden speed. The acceleration pushed Patroclus too fast and too hard, and in his stupor he fell. 

His last and final mistake was falling on the person.

The person who happened to be the boy he dreamt of. 

The person who watched as he was pummeled for being gay. 

Not even the bus’s loud engine could mask the roar of the teenagers. No one was allowed to get near the boy -- especially not a faggot like him. Patroclus thought about all of this as he fell in the lap of the beautiful boy. The boy’s warmth seeped through his layers of clothes and burned him. He knew there were scorch marks there, scorch marks that people would make mocking jokes out of.  
He felt a tangle of hands reach over the seat to grab him, to remove him, and throw him on the dirty aisle. Patroclus was sick of people pushing him around. He closed his eyes and thought about what Briseis might have done. She would have beat the shit out of all these wimps. 

With newfound strength, he mustered the courage to look into the boy’s eyes for the first time. He didn’t realize they were so close, mere inches apart. His blue eyes shone with something indescribable. They were crashing waves and a whirlpool in the center that sucked him in. His ears popped from the depth of blue. The world went quiet and it was only him and the boy. 

The hands were rougher now on his creamy gray sweater. Patroclus blinked, forced his eyes away, and sucked in a breath. Bad idea. His mind was hazy now with the boy’s warm cologne, undertones of the ocean’s accent. He placed his hands on the boy’s shoulder for support, and his hands met the rough, sturdy blue letterman jacket embroidered with the school’s logo Phthia and all of his track awards. The voices and shouts were warbled, underwater. He did not hear the boy’s soft “wait.”

The perfect boy was in his seat and he could do nothing about it. Somewhere in his chest, anger unfurled and clawed at his throat. Before he could untwine their limbs and extract himself from the humiliating situation, the boy held his hips and gently nudged him to the right side of him. Patroclus obliged: how could he not? No one refused the golden boy. He was the son of the mayor, captain of the track team, and the love throb of the school.

Patroclus wondered if this is what it felt like to be close to the sun, if Icarus blushed and melted under the sun’s smile. The boy cracked a smile, dimples welcoming him, and turned his head back to the stupefied crowd. The shouts came confused but quickly diminished now that their leader showered them with attention once more.

In the shadows of the boy, shrouded with his beauty, Patroclus felt simultaneously safe and threatened the entire time. His stomach swooped and churned, crashing like waves at what would happen when they got off the bus. He cursed the boy for letting this happen. For the rest of the ride to school, Patroclus sat stiffly, jostled slightly when the boy leaned too close and the heat became unbearable. He tried to devise a plan to get off the bus, his usually active and paranoid mind coming blank each time their fingers would touch or thighs brushed. When Patroclus sneaked a furtive glance at the boy, the other would already be looking at him, head was thrown back from a joke one of his friends told. Although the boy’s body was relaxed, his gaze was focused and intense. A strike of lightning coursed through him, and Patroclus quickly turned away, head nearly knocking on the glass. 

Patroclus could not remember anything but the heat emitting on the bus. Did not hear the words, see the passing cars, feel the envious glares. For now, he was protected by the son of the sun. He laid his weary head on the seat and thought of a quiet field.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I finished reading the book a couple of days ago, and I fell in love with their dynamic. I'm planning on continuing to write and will update whenever i can! Hope you enjoyed :]


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